Three Saudis have been sentenced to death for beating and burying alive five Indian workers at a remote farm in Saudi Arabia's eastern province. The men, whose identities have been withheld, murdered their victims in 2010, and were given the death penalty on Tuesday, two years after the suspects confessed to the crime.

They had been drinking and taking drugs when they killed the five men, media reported. One of victims was said to be "closely connected" to one of the Saudi murderers. One of the Indian victims had reportedly been accused of harassing the daughter of their visa sponsor, and were tied up and beaten by the three men for several hours.

They were then thrown into a 1.5-metre hole with their hands tied and mouths gagged, before being buried alive. "The friend who called us to the farm suggested we bury them in a hole that had been dug in the back of the farm," one of the suspects reportedly confessed.

"We liked the idea and we covered the mouths of the five men with adhesive tape. We moved them on a truck.

The hole was around two metres wide and one-and-a-half metres deep. We buried them alive. My friend and I stayed at the farm for some time before leaving, while my other friend remained there," Saudi daily al-Riyadh reported one of the convicted men saying.

The remains were dug up by a Saudi man renting the farm, who found bones with pieces of clothing and ropes nearby. The bodies were identified after an identity card and gold ring with the name of the one of the victims inscribed were retrieved at the murder scene.

Police said that the farm had been used for distilling liquor, and four other Indians were arrested in the murder probe for making alcohol, which is illegal in Saudi Arabia.